The Internet and other wired or wireless networks provide a number of mechanisms that allow users to send and receive messages. Email is one such widely used mechanism. Webmail, is a browser-based application that allows users to send or view email messages. Yahoo! mail is an email system that employs webmail clients.
A webmail system typically provides an editor that allows a user to enter text messages. A user can attach files to a message. Attached files, referred to as “attachments,” may include photos, drawings, or other types of data. A receiver of a message with an attachment may save the attached file, or open it and view the contents.
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a standard protocol for transporting email messages over the Internet. RFC 2821, available at http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2821, describes this protocol. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is a standard format used for mail messages on the Internet. MIME, and related protocols, are described in a series of documents: RFC 2045, RFC 2046, RFC 2047, RFC 2048, and RFC 2049, available at http://tools.ietf.org.
Many users desire improved or alternate ways of creating messages that include images, or combinations of text and images. For example, there may be situations when a user may desire to closely integrate text and images. Users generally desire improved or alternate techniques for creating messages that include images. There may be other situations in which existing email or messaging systems do not provide users with the capabilities that they desire. Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.